Minutes from the October 14, 2014 Meeting
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Rhossili Community Council Minutes of the Meeting held on Tuesday, 14th October 2014 Community Council meeting commenced at 7.15pm 1. Attendance: Councillors Steve Campbell Kelly (SC-K), Ian Button ( IB), Jeff Higgins (JH), Nicola Rees (NR), Sally Thomas (ST) and Steve Walmsley (SW). Residents: Linda Bartlett, Anne Morse Jones, June Thomas , Humphrey Glynternick 2. Apologies: Alan Kearsley-Evans (AK-E), National Trust 3. Declaration of Interest: None noted 4. Minutes of last Meeting: APPROVED & SIGNED 5. Matters Arising: None noted 6. National Trust: As AK-E not in attendance, nothing to report. 7. Chairman’s Items: 7.1 Vacancy for Councillor: 7.2 Agreed draft advertisement and for it to be placed in noticeboards, on web-site and a Mailchimp sent to residents, referring them to Noticeboards and website. Advertisement to be displayed for 21 days, applications to be considered at the November meeting of RCC. 7.3 See 8.3 Below 7.4 Clerk gave brief outline of findings of Sustainable Tourism Consultation being run by Rural Swansea Action on behalf of the AONB. Clerk requested that Councillors and residents find the time to attend final “drop-in” at Reynoldston Village Hall, 2.00pm - 6.00pm, Wednesday, 15th October. 7.5 Defibrillator up-date. Council to investigate alternative person to carry out training for villagers as previous trainer is no longer available. SC-K to investigate possible alternative. 8 Footpaths: 8.1 Path down to Mewslade from Middleton Lane has been cut. 8.2 Path through Vile Lane ( “Six Gates”) has also been cut and is much improved. 8.3 Council pleased to report that resident H Glynternick has cleared ground adjacent to Church; he has offered to continue to maintain this. 9 Highways: Resident LB reported that the steps by the Rhossili Car Park toilet and Shower block are in a dangerous state, caused by stones and gravel washing down onto the treads, thereby making walking on them hazardous. A letter to be sent to rights of Way Team &/or Highways Dept. to get the position rectified. 10 Sunday Bus-service up-date: Ian Button attended the emergency briefing meeting in Reynoldston. He reported that John Davies, Baytrans, had told the meeting that the Sunday Bus Service, Gower Explorer, would cease on 26 October and there was no funding available for next year, 2015. Various Officers from City and County of Swansea gave briefings to meeting about the position. Paul Relf, European Officer, gave details of possible avenues for progressing applications to the Community Fund, but that didn’t come on-stream until 2016. Transport Officer told meeting that all Gower bus-routes further than Sketty were subsidised by CCS to the tune of £1.2m. To continue, Sunday Bus Service needs £10K - £15K and creative ways are needed to be found to raise this money. IB reported that 75% of all travellers on the Sunday bus service came to Rhossili and that surveys of passengers showed that only 25% came from countries outside the UK. It was estimated that the bus passengers had generated £150,000 into the economy of Gower, and if Rhossili gained 75% of that income, the losses to businesses when the bus service finishes are likely to be considerable. 11 Village Hall: 11.1 It was noted that the temporary restriction signs on the gates had been removed, and a permanent one notifying users not to block the “Coastguard Route” had been installed. NR asked if a sign could be put up referring to Agricultural use of the lane to make sure it was kept clear of obstructions. ST reported that there had been no problems with blocking the lane since the gates had been installed. Jeff Higgins informed the meeting that the very next day after the temporary signs had been removed, a van had been parked across the Village Hall car park gateway – the surfers were later spoken to about their parking. 11.2 ST and NR reported that some users of Bunkhouse had set off fireworks, frightening livestock in the nearby farmyard. JH and SW said that fireworks were explicitly banned from being set off, and this is in the Terms and Conditions for hire of the bunkhouse facility. It was suggested that, in future, users would be told their Booking Bond would not be returned at the end of their stay. 12 Gower Landscape Project: Ian Button will continue to attend meetings of GLP Steering Group on behalf of RCC. It would appear to outsiders that there has been little progress on any of the projects affecting Rhossili and its environs. SW showed Councillors the Method Statement that had been drawn up by Rebecca O’Dowd regarding the Vile wall and NR was pleased to note that the boundary of her family’s fields on the western edge of The Vile have been given a high priority. It was also reported that the 2 of the proposed traditional hay meadows had been harrowed and seeded – Slade Acre and Kiln Hay, on the southern edge of The Vile. 13 Planning applications: No Planning applications for RCC area had been sent to Clerk. However, SC-K had noticed that building work has started at Kittiwakes, a bungalow opposite the Church. There have been several concerns raised about the project, as what is being done at the site seems to be at variance with the original planning permission. The house was sold immediately after Planning Permission was granted. Council have received a further application for Planning Permission at the site for an extension. SC-K will check with Planning Department that what is being done at the moment is legal and try to get an answer to the question, “Have the new owners of Kittiwakes done any work to the house that is different from the original Planning Permission, and if so, does this work also require a further application?” If the work is found to be in contravention of Planning rules, RCC may request that the new Application for an extension not be considered until the situation with the present house is clarified. 14 Finance: 14.1 Steve Walmsley presented the monthly Statement and the contents were discussed. It was accepted and signed. 14.2 SW informed Council that The Audit Office for Wales has refunded £30 to all Community councils in Wales, after reviewing their scales of Audit and Inspection fees. 14.3 Council had received a letter from Mazars, on behalf of the Auditor General for Wales, on The Annual Return for RCC. Mazars reported that they were satisfied with the Annual Return and there were no issues or matter arising. Council, therefore, accepted and approved The Annual Return. 15 Correspondence: The were no issues raised from the Correspondence list. Concerns had been raised about changes in Surgery opening times at Scurlage & Pennard. However, so far, it seems the new system is working well and patients’ fears appear to be unfounded at the moment. 16 Date of Next Meeting: Tuesday, 11th November 2014, at 7.15pm. In Ante-room behind village Hall. 17 Meeting closed at 8.50pm Minutes approved and signed, 11/11/2014 .